I Feel Sick

Johnen Vasquez, creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, comes out with a comic series following his character Devi, her ill-fated attempts to make a romantic connection, her growing hatred of the human race, and her self-imposed hermit lifestyle.
Also featured in this series is Tenna, the closest person Devi has for a friend. Tenna is manic, in a very disturbing way. She carries around a doll named Spooky (think Beanie Baby Skeleton). When people are in distress Tenna urges them to talk to Spooky.
Devi tried to continue life, after as a wacked-out (that's the best way to put it) date with Johnny, in which he tried to stab Devi. In fact, Devi's romantic life heads on a definate downward spiral. Those of you who've read JTHM remember the infamous, "Oh my God! Someone put shit in my pants!" Meanwhile. And we thought things couldn't get worse.
I feel Sick is illustrated by Johnen, and done in color. Yes, color. It is published by Slave Labor Graphics, and cost $3.10 at the local Circle K, tax included. So far I think only one issue is published, but hopefully more to come.

i feel sick is a story about Devi, a girl that was unfortunate enough to go out on a date with Nny. Nny attempted to seal the wonderful date the only way that his insane mind knew how... by killing her. Fortunately, Devi was able to escape and leaving Nny realizing what he had done.

But Nny isn't the only bad date that she's had. There was her first date that swerved from hitting a mongoose only for him to slowly die while Devi was trapped having to listen to him go on about touching her ass. There was also that zombie... but that's not important.

The Main Story:

Devi has recently gotten out of her hellish job as a cashier at a bookstore to work for Nerve Publishing. She creates cover illustrations for science fiction and fantasy novels. The thing is, it's proving to be more of a strain than she thought. She hasn't been able to work on her own paintings for a long time, and her last unfinished work, named Sickness, has started talking to her. It constantly chants, "The screws are coming undone." But what is it up to...

Tenna:Devi, you say it's not, but I think this is because you're working so hard. Or you're taking crack. Is it crack?Devi:Uh... we're gonna have this to go.

Synopsis, or Why this is my favorite Vasquez comic:

After reading Johnny the Homocidal Maniac and Squee, though both amusing in their own right and Johnny much more intellectual than I thought it would be, i feel sick stands out in my mind. Johnny covers most of the same themes of being an outsider, loss of creativity yet still not becoming part of the mass, and imagination being the key to living. Squee covers different themes of being an outsider in one's own family and such. Johnny does a very odd job of covering its themes, and it doesn't get to you until later in the series that it's actually a thought out comic.

This is where i feel sick really stands out. Being a two issue series, it becomes very direct. The creature, Sickness, becomes real by eating away at Devi's creativity, and it's able to do this because of Devi's inability to do her own art due to work. It's very clear that this is a major part of the story and it's easy to read. However, there's another facet.

When Vasquez subtitles i feel sick as "a story about a girl," he isn't kidding. This is mainly about Devi's own struggles: her creativeness, her romances, and her dealings with other people. The series also describes Devi's inability to find someone. Nny came to terms with his inability rather quickly, but mainly due to his feelings of being rejected from all of society. Devi has become so pessimistic since her encounter with Nny that she doesn't even want to partake in the world. In the end, with the information that she had lost the only person that she could ever be truly happy with, she's able to cope with her life. In her words, "It's a miserable planet you've landed on, Sickness. But it's mine, and I don't want your company."